Wasted On Fixing All The Troubles
by LostandAlone22
Summary: Nathan and Audrey decide to use Duke's unique Trouble to stop the most violent of the Troubled. It doesn't end well for Duke's psyche.
1. Chapter 1

When Nathan found him, Duke was almost feral. It wasn't supposed to end like this. 

He and Audrey had started this, trying to use him to get to the worst of the Troubled, to stop them in their tracks and help their entire families. Somewhere along the way, it had gotten out of hand, though. The goodness that they'd been trying to use from his own brand of Trouble had started being outweighed by what Dwight was having to cover up. It wasn't just killing for the good of anyone anymore, and he needed to be stopped. 

Duke had told them when this all started that each time he took someone's Trouble, he felt this rush, like what he would expect a heroin high to feel like, but they'd ignored him. If they had only listened to him, they wouldn't all be out on a massive manhunt for someone that they all called friend, begrudgingly or not. 

Dwight had brought it up. "He's getting out of your control." He'd warned them with the same objective observation that he had about everything. 

Vince and Dave had brought it up again, giving off that condescending tone that they had about everything. "We know you meant well," Vince had hemmed and hawed, only to be cut off by Dave. "This can't have been what you were planning for him." 

And finally, Audrey had brought it up. "He isn't Duke anymore, Nathan. He's just... not." It was this realization, this knowledge that they'd gone too far, let him stray too far without helping him, that made them call everyone together. They did it behind Jordan's back, knowing what she would do if she found out. They'd tried to downplay it, but everyone knew who and what it was that they were dealing with. Duke was out of his mind, a different man than his usual happy-go-lucky self who wouldn't hurt anyone without it weighing on him. They'd split into four groups: Nathan, Audrey, Vince and Dave, and Dwight, and gone to find him. They had all agreed that they wouldn't use deadly force, but would do everything shy of that to bring him in. He needed help, not to be killed off like a rabid animal. 

Nathan found Duke in the woods, hiding in an underground cave, and he'd been yelling at Nathan to get back, to stay away. Walking back just a small ways, Nathan texted the rest of their small circle, letting them know that he had found Duke but might need some back-up. 

"Duke. I'm coming in." Nathan had said in warning, treading quietly, slowly, trying not to spook his friend. He was jumpy, looked like more of a flight risk than any danger to him. 

"No! I don't want to hurt you, but I will," Duke yelled back. Nathan thought he heard a sob. "Oh, god, I will." It broke Nathan's heart, but he forced himself closer to where his friend was hiding. 

"You won't. You know why?" Nathan said, that same calmness in his voice, like he was talking to a wounded animal. 

There was a break in the conversation and Nathan knew he had shook his head, before he heard a broken, "No." 

"Because we're friends. I don't admit it very often, but we've been linked, and linked a lot longer than Audrey's been here. So, I'm coming in, and we're going to talk, and then I'm gonna get you some help, okay?" Nathan didn't expect an answer and so wasn't surprised when he didn't get one. He moved into the dark of the cave, only bits of sunlight seeping in through breaks in the grass at the mouth of the cave. As he moved further in, he cursed himself for not leaving some sign of where he was. If he managed to get Duke calmed down, the commotion that would be caused when the rest of the group got there would surely break that calmness. He finally met the other man's crazed eyes, and he held out his hands. 

Duke took Nathan's hands in his, accepting the contact as his friend sat down next to him. "This is a great hiding spot," Nathan said to him. Duke grunted, accepting the hands, but moving his head so that he didn't have to look at Nathan. He felt shaky, heart beating way too fast, unsure of his footing, and he knew that he was in a lot of trouble. There was no way he was getting out of this unscathed. Hell, he was lucky if he got out of this alive, and even then, it would only be because of Audrey and possibly Nathan pleading for his safety. Maybe he didn't deserve his own safety. Tremors shook his body, and he felt one of the hands let go of his hand to rub gently up and down his arm. He heard Nathan's voice, but it sounded like it was far away and he couldn't make out what they were. Suddenly, a cell phone lit up their small cave, and Duke jumped, forcing himself to look at Nathan. Their eyes met for a brief moment, and Duke could see what he thought might have been worry at some point. There were more words, but he moved his head, not wanting to hear what was being said. 

Nathan let the cell phone go dark, while still trying to get Duke to respond to him. "What happened to your arm, man? Those look like they're self inflicted. Have you been hurting yourself? Come on, man. Talk to me. I've got all the time in the world and I am here for you." His voice wasn't as calm as he'd hoped to keep it, but Duke didn't seem to be responding to him anymore. Shock, maybe? He was shivering, which was why Nathan had been trying to warm up his arm in the first place. The other man had gone into his own world, far away from where Nathan could reach him, and so he made another move with his cell phone, hoping that this wouldn't set Duke off to do anything rash. 

"Come quick. We're underground. Duke's injured and not responsive." A quick text, mass sent and so not detailed. Just enough to make sure that they knew to tread carefully. The screen went dark again, and this time, Duke looked around him. It was as if he were waking up, as he looked at his surroundings. His eyes met Nathan's again, and Nathan lit up, hoping that the man would say something. He didn't. He simply scampered, moving further into the cave, as Nathan hoped that this thing wasn't that deep. Who would have thought that Duke was a metaphorical man? I mean, how desperate was he, that at his lowest emotional point, he climbed down here, to the lowest point that he could find? 

"Duke! Nathan!" Audrey's voice pierced the air. Duke stopped moving, stayed where he was as if frozen in place. Nathan hoped that he would stop moving or come back towards him. 

"We're in here, Audrey," Nathan called out, if for no other reason than to get her to be quiet. Duke looked way too close to shock for him to be comfortable, and while he was dazed from Audrey's voice, Nathan grabbed his hands again, pulling him back closer. Duke was malleable, moving almost as if by choice to come sit back next to Nathan again. Nathan removed his jacket, laying it over his friend's shoulders, and the two of them just sat there for several minutes. Once he was sure Duke was calm, he put one arm around his shoulder, hoping that maybe the close physical contact would help. It did. In a way. 

Duke leaned against Nathan, finally taking knowledge that the other man wasn't going to kill him. So long as it was just them in this little cave, he didn't have to fear for his life. He was so tired. He hadn't slept in days, the want becoming an ache, and he'd climbed in here to escape himself. They just sat there for a little while, Duke hearing Dwight's voice at some point, although he couldn't make out the words. Vince and Dave arrived a little while later, their own bickering voices breaking through the silence. Nathan was talking quietly, reassuringly, to Duke, and he tried to pretend that he wasn't going to jail today or worse. His head lilted as the darkness started descending, sleep finally overtaking him in this little cocoon. He would feel if they moved him, would feel if he were in danger. Right now, it was just him and Nathan, though, and so he relaxed. 

Nathan sighed deeply, looking up as the sky darkened. Their friends were still out there, still trying to get information which he was trying to give them in soothing tones. It wasn't for them, but because Duke had finally stopped shaking. He was finally relaxing and there was hope that he wasn't in shock anymore. So, he used the soothing tone. No, Duke wasn't a danger to him, possibly to no one right now. No, he didn't think Duke could hear anything they were saying; his awareness was waning in and out. He was injured, like he'd said in the text. It looked self-inflicted, as there were cuts lining his entire arm horizontally. No, they weren't vertical. It didn't look like a suicide attempt. Yeah, they should probably call an ambulance because something was seriously wrong, beyond the fact that they'd let him get addicted to killing people. It probably wasn't a good idea to call them, though, because Duke was finally at rest, and he didn't want to break it. Yeah, they could use a blanket. No, Audrey couldn't fit down here. And finally, he knew that it was getting dark, but he didn't think the newly arrived paramedics should come near unless they could somehow figure out a way to get a sedative down here for Duke. 

Nathan finally just leaned his head forward, pressing his forehead against Duke's own, and whispered nothings to him. Something fell on the ground near his feet. "I don't know how to give him that," He called up to whoever was out there. 

"The paramedics said it's just to jab into his arm. Anywhere will do." Audrey's voice came back. He made a move for the syringe, using Duke's lethargy to clear off a space on his arm and gave him the shot. It took only a few moments for his breathing to completely even out, as he lost consciousness. 

"He's out," Nathan called out, moving to help drag his friend out of the hole that he'd crawled down into. When he poked his head out, dragging Duke behind him, he saw a couple of paramedics, their core group of friends... and Jordan. Instead of angry, though, she looked sympathetic. Someone had filled her in, how Duke had driven himself crazy trying to be helpful to them. 

The paramedics worked quickly, getting Duke's body onto the stretcher and taking his vitals. So far, everything looked good, which pointed to a psychiatric reason for why this was happening. He could have told them that. They checked the wounds on his arm for infection and then looked at the other arm, and it was then that Nathan noticed that he had done this to both of his arms. Duke was whisked away, brought to the ambulance where they took him away, and it was just the group of friends standing around watching it leave. "What happened down there?" Audrey asked. 

Nathan shook his head. "He was completely... feral. He started out fairly lucid, calling out to me to stay away. Then, he just kind of lost it. He wasn't connecting with me until I pulled him back towards me. Then, he just fell asleep on my shoulder. He's not okay. This shouldn't have happened." 

"Is he a threat to us?" Jordan asked, getting glares from everyone in the group except for Dwight. That cleared up who called her. 

"No. He's not. I think the guilt of all of this is what sent him over the edge. He might be addicted to this, but he's trying to fight it. He'll be okay once he's had some time to heal. Don't hurt him!" Nathan said pointedly to her. Then, he shook his head. "He's going to have to be put on a psychiatric hold until we can get him sorted out. It's bad, guys."


	2. Chapter 2

Nathan walked hesitantly towards Duke's hospital room. The nurse on duty had told him that they were still keeping Duke sedated so he wouldn't be awake, but he wanted to see for himself that his friend was still here. They'd been through so much and he was terrified that this was it. Duke wasn't going to bounce back from this with that Jack Sparrow attitude. The darkness was just going to claim him the way it had his father and his grandfather before him. They had really fucked it up this time.

Turning the corner, he saw Duke laying there in the bed. Both of his wrists were covered with leather restraints. A soft blanket draped over him and his head lay back flat against the bed. It was the most inanimate that Nathan had seen him ever, a stark contrast to the man who had sat with him in the cave and an even starker contrast to the man that he usually was. Nathan walked closer, gently turning over Duke's arm that was closest to him. He looked at the cuts now in the light, noticing how hastily done they were. He tried to guess at the kind of weapon used. It didn't look like a kitchen knife had done this. Maybe something from Duke's kit. That still didn't answer the why, though.

He thought back to that time in the police station, that first time that they had allowed Duke to use his Trouble to get rid of a dangerous Trouble. It had been the only option and Duke had done it willingly, but after that...

He looked away from these cuts, closing his eyes. It should have been a warning. "This isn't you." The words had more power when he whispered them now, in the quiet room with only the dimmed noises of the inner working of the hospital to break the silence. "This isn't you, Duke."

They had calmed him down that time, kept him from losing himself, and he had even apologized to Dwight over a drink at the Gull. Instead of thinking that didn't end as badly as they thought it would, they should have been remembering how Duke crumbled to the floor, the look of intense pain in his eyes when it was over.

"Hey," Audrey's voice came from behind him. Broken from his thoughts, Nathan turned around and looked at Audrey. She had that same guilty, somber look in his eyes that he felt in his heart, as she walked over to the other side of the bed.

"How long you been standing there?" He asked, backing away, watching as she did the same inspection of the other arm as he'd done. Yep, definitely something from Duke's kit.

"Not long. I just got here. Dwight and Jordan called off the Guard." She said, not even looking at him.

"That's good. They understand what happened?"

"Yeah, or at least enough to give him another chance." She turned Duke's arm back around, set it down gently, before pulling the blanket back around his arm. Why hadn't they dressed his arms? While he wasn't actively bleeding, infection could still get in through the deep cuts.

"Why do you think he did that?" Nathan asked, not even thinking about what he was saying.

"Nathan..." Audrey's head whipped towards him, and she looked stricken.

"Not... all of this. Why do you think he cut himself? It doesn't make sense if he was trying to get closer to the Troubled person's blood. He just absorbs it."

"Maybe guilt? He cut into himself to try to rid himself of their blood, maybe?" Audrey guessed, but she looked as confused as he was as to the whys. They would need to wait for Duke to wake up before they got any real answers, and who even knew what he would be like when that happened.

Nathan looked around the room for a chair, and pulled it towards the side of the bed, settling in to wait for him to wake up. Audrey did the same on her side of the bed, and they sat in silence, waiting for whatever was to come.

Duke lazily opened his eyes, trying to clear the cobwebs out of his head. The last thing he remembered was being with Nathan in that cave. When he had gotten his eyes opened, the light coming through a window struck him and he squeezed his eyes closed tight, turning his head quickly in the opposite direction. Whatever had happened, it couldn't be good. This felt like the world's worst hangover and everything before the cave was kind of fuzzy. He tried to get the strength to lift his head again and failed, but he opened his eyes, noticing a very fuzzy Nathan sitting next to his bed, slouched over in a chair. Why was Nathan in this room with him? Where was he? What had happened? What had he done?

He tried to move his hand up to wipe his hair away and squeeze the bridge of his nose, but it wouldn't move. Grunting, he lifted his head, the room spinning, and looked down at both of his arms. Leather restraints covered both of his wrists. "The hell?" His voice came out in a slur, and he cleared his throat to try again. It felt like he had cotton in his mouth. He yanked at his wrists, trying to get free. This was cruel and unusual punishment. There was **never** a good reason to tie someone to a bed.

Nathan opened his eyes at the noise and immediately stood from his chair and moved closer. "Duke? It's okay. You're in the hospital. Just calm down, man."

"Nathan? What's going on? Why am I in these... things?" Duke's voice was still slurring, but he felt like he had enough control over his voice for Nathan to have heard him.

"Audrey," Nathan called, and it was only then that Duke realized that she was sitting on the other side of the bed in her own chair. He turned to look at her, and was instantly reminded of the bright lights and how he did not want to look in that direction. Squinting, he looked back in Nathan's direction, and continued to struggle with the restraints, while trying to look cool for her.

"Hey, Audrey. Can you tell me what's going on here? 'Cause I'm not really liking these things being on my wrist."

"I'm going to go get a nurse," Audrey said, sounding worried, and completely ignoring him. She got up and walked out the door.

"Audrey! Audrey!" He yelled after her. "Damnit! Nathan, you have to get these things off of me."

"Just calm down, Duke. Do you remember what happened?" Nathan asked, not moving to help Duke with the restraints. He spoke in a calming voice that made Duke ask himself again what the Hell was going on.

Duke tried to get zen. He could do it. He meditated all the time. It had to work right now if he was going to convince anyone to let him go. He didn't usually meditate while tied up, though. Focusing on Nathan's question, he took a deep breath and gave the man a look. "The last thing I remember was being in a cave with you. There was... I don't remember. I crawled in there?"

"Yeah, you crawled in there, buddy. What else do you remember?" Nathan's voice was sympathetic, soothing. He should remember something more, but he couldn't grasp it. He took a few more deep breaths, and tried to forget where he was. There were a few quiet moments between them before memories flooded back in a wave. Audrey and Nathan wanting him to use his Trouble... ability... whatever to get rid of some of the worst Troubles, killing people who weren't that violent without them knowing about it, everything just piling up, and he hurt himself. He was trying... he realized that he no longer had the whole zen thing down. He couldn't breathe anymore and there were loud, gasping, almost breaths that were being squeezed from him. The dizziness was getting worse and he felt like he was back in a cave of a different kind. He fought the restraints, trying to escape. Nathan was rubbing his arms, holding him close and whispering to him that it would all be all right.

Audrey came back into the room with a doctor, and he hoped that the doctor could do something about his breathing. "Duke, it's all right. We're here," Audrey said in a calm voice as the doctor moved towards him with a needle.

"What is he doing?" Duke yelled. "No! I'm fine! I don't need that! Get away from me!" Duke started struggling and kept struggling, even as he felt the needle pierce his skin and the darkness start to reclaim him.

As his head lolled back against the bed and he felt sleep trying to claim him, he heard Nathan's voice from far away. "He remembers what happened."

"What the Hell happened?" Audrey demanded, looking in shock at her friend, back asleep now on the bed. She turned to Nathan for answers.

"He woke up. The restraints made him a little uneasy. Then, I asked him what he remembered and he seemed to be having a flashback. Then, he freaked out. I think it's safe to assume that he remembers what happened." Nathan told her, running one hand over the back of his head in an anxious movement. "I think he may have had an anxiety attack."

He looked at the doctor, who was standing in the room with them still. "Am I right?"

The doctor nodded in affirmation. "I was hoping to avoid stressing him out the second he woke up, but you seem to have taken care of _that_. It looked like he was having an anxiety attack when I came in here. Given Mr. Crocker's history, I can't imagine realizing the restraints were on his wrists helped with the situation any. I've given him another sedative. I would set up an IV, but he needs to deal with what's going on eventually, not just be knocked out and restrained indefinitely."

Audrey was making a "Is he kidding?" look behind the doctor's back. Bluntness was definitely this guy's strong suit.

"When he wakes up next, I must insist that try your best to keep him calm until a professional can take over his care. I'll be back in here to check on him in a little while." The doctor made some notes on his notepad and left the room, leaving Audrey and Duke in stunned silence.

"So maybe asking him what he remembered wasn't the best move I could have made." Nathan shrugged and sat back down in the chair. "Either way, now we know that he remembers what he did and we can hopefully work with him."

"Did he say what he was remembering?" Audrey asked, moving to sit back in the chair she'd vacated and grabbed one of Duke's hands again.

"No, I'm just going by his reaction. It has to be a lot, though, to have set him off that bad." Nathan put his hands on his knees and moved to get up. "Right now would be a good time to have someone like Claire working for us. I have to go. I have to check in with the Guard, make sure that they're up to speed. Maybe someone there will have an idea on how to handle this... addiction."

"It would be nice if it were as simple as getting someone off drugs, but..."

"...this is Haven. Exactly. The self-injury alone isn't as simple as getting someone off drugs. And it's not as though we can just send him to rehab or a psychiatric hospital until the urges go away." Nathan shook his head and lifted himself out of the chair. "I'll be back. Keep him calm if he wakes up again?"

"You know I will," Audrey promised, as Nathan grabbed his jacket and walked out of the room.

Audrey held onto Duke's hand, willing him to wake up so that she could at least see what they were dealing with. It was only fair seeing as Nathan had gotten the chance to see what was going on with him not once, but twice. She couldn't believe it had gotten this far, couldn't believe that they had let it get this far. It wasn't Duke's fault. Okay, well, maybe it was his fault a little bit. He was responsible for his own actions, after all. Did this count as one of those situations, though? He had self-control, but what if, after his Trouble was triggered, like so many other residents of Haven, he couldn't control his own Trouble?

She placed her other hand on top of the one holding onto Duke's hand, and rested her head against her hands. It was their job to help people with Troubles. They had helped so many of the less violent Troubled people, but they had failed to help Duke. They just sent him in the direction of the most dangerous of the Troubled, not even thinking twice that what they were doing here could be more dangerous than any of them combined. They could lose a friend.

She shook her hands over Duke's hand, partially in an effort to control her emotions and keep from crying and partially hoping that he would wake up so she could see if he was salvageable. There was no way he wasn't salvageable. He was just going to be fine and that was that. She wouldn't accept anything less. The hand below her hands started to move, and she sat up, moving back a little, holding her breath that he was waking up. "Come on, Duke. Open those brown eyes for me."

His head moved ever so slightly, rolling around to lay flat against the pillow, and he opened his eyes. He squinted against the light coming from the window and Audrey got up, moving to close the blinds and shut out the light. He was making some mumbling incoherent noises, and she could tell he was trying to get his bearings. She put her hand over his again, trying to stop the panic from the restraints this time. "Duke, it's all right. You're in a hospital, but you're going to be okay."

He seemed to focus on her and he cleared his throat several times in an effort to speak. "Audrey?"

"Yeah, Duke, it's me. How are you feeling?" She said gently, the way she'd heard Nathan speaking to him in the cave. She couldn't explain why that worked, but maybe she didn't need to as long as it worked for them.

"Thirsty. Head hurts." Duke asked. She looked around the room for something, a pitcher, a glass, weren't they supposed to have those things in every patient's room? Psych ward. Right.

"Hold on. I'm gonna go get some water. I'll be right back. Just... stay there." She could have kicked herself when she realized, 'where else was the poor man going to go?'

Audrey left the room and Duke let his head fall back, lazily lilting away from the window. Little slivers of sunlight were still coming through the blinds and he felt like he had the world's worst hangover... or migraine, but he was leaning towards the former because he knew that they had drugged him the last time. He tried the restraints again, but gave up after a few tries. If he stayed calm, they wouldn't have a reason to keep them on him. Except that he'd hurt people. He'd hurt people that Audrey and Nathan hadn't sent him after. He closed his eyes, willing the memories away. He could deal with this later, but right now, he just needed to stay calm so they would let him out of these things, or at the very least, stop drugging him into oblivion. He was starting to lose track of where he was and what day it was, and those are both important things to know.

Audrey came back into the room with a pitcher and the nurse that was on duty. "How are you feeling, Mr. Crocker?" The nurse asked in an overly chipper voice, and he played it off by flashing her a toothy smile.

"Just wonderful. Would be even better if I could get these things off, though. Know who I can see about that?" He was flirting and for a moment, Audrey thought that he looked an awful lot like his usual self, and she could convince herself he would be okay.

"I have to check with your doctor, Dr. Craig, but he's still around so I can get him. I'll be right back." She told him, smiling at him in return, before leaving with his chart.

Audrey smiled at him, a small closed lip smile that reminded him that she was probably still angry with him. He closed his eyes, and tried to think happy thoughts, better times, anything to keep calm. He heard water being poured into a glass then the tip of a cup being put up to his mouth. He opened his eyes and looked into Audrey's eyes. "Figured you'd need some help. I'm gonna give you small sips, okay?" He nodded his head at her. After a few awkward seconds of her helping him drink, Audrey stepped away from the bed.

"Audrey..." He didn't know how to broach the topic with her. It was easy with Nathan. Nathan had been there his whole life and they were some level of comfortable with each other that he didn't think he could ever have with **anyone** else. He didn't have to try to be his best when dealing with the other man, because he was taken at face value by Nathan. He knew Duke was a bad man and didn't try to sugar coat anything for him. With Audrey, it was different. She expected him to be a better man and he always felt the need to try to be that better man. "I'm sorry."

She reached out for his hand, moving closer to the bed. "We don't need to talk about this right now, Duke. Just rest, okay? We have time."


	3. Chapter 3

Nathan kept his hand resting on his hip near his gun holster as he walked into the Gun and Rose Diner. It was empty except for people that he easily identified as The Guard. Jordan and Dwight both sat on opposite sides of the bar, the only people that he wanted to deal with, or even really thought he should have to deal with.

"Hey," He said to Jordan in greeting, taking a seat next to Dwight.

Jordan put both hands on the bar, bracing herself against it, before asking "Is there any change?"

"Yeah. He woke up. He remembers... quite a bit." Nathan was hesitant to tell them more than the absolute barest minimum that would keep them away from the hospital, keep them away from Duke.

"And does he still want to hurt us?" Jordan asked, clenching her jaw in a look of defiance. She knew they were being played to keep Crocker safe, and she also knew what needed to be done.

"No." Nathan made sure that his voice was as firm as he could make it. This was a bid for time, safety, and help, and they needed to hear that. "He freaked out. They had to sedate him again."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh. Audrey and I were talking and we're at kind of a crossroads here. He needs help." He looked at Dwight, who seemed to be the most willing to work with him. "We need to get him help. But we can't exactly send him to rehab or a hospital for this addiction. We thought you might have some insights."

"Could always put a bullet in him. That would solve the problem real quick," A man behind him said, earning a glare from both Dwight and Jordan.

"That's not an option," Nathan growled.

"What can we do?" Dwight asked. He didn't necessarily consider Crocker a friend, not like he knew Nathan and Audrey did, but he had been on good terms with the other man from working so closely with him. He knew what had happened, the whole story, from the inside, and knew that it wasn't entirely Duke's fault.

"That's what we're trying to work out. I know that we can't just let him go, because I'm not sure what he would do, but there's not exactly a psychiatric precedent for this, you know. It's his Trouble." He glanced back at the men who were threatening Duke just moments before, pointedly telling them that Duke was Troubled, too, even if it wasn't the same as them. He understood on some level why Duke was hated by the same people who helped other Troubled people, but it still unnerved him that these men could be so ruthless about someone they should see eye to eye with.

"Can they keep him in the hospital for a while or maybe send him to the Freddy? I'm sure they're used to dealing with people like him," Jordan suggested. She knew what it felt like to have a Trouble that hurt other people.

"I'm not sure that the Freddy has enough security to keep him there, not to mention that keeping him there would have him exposed to other Troubled people, which wouldn't help. And the hospital... Jordan, you know that's for acute cases." He turned his hands up in the universal sign for defeat.

"This is an acute case. Can you guys talk to his doctor?"

"Yeah. We already have. He told us not to upset Duke when he woke up again. What do you think we should tell him when he comes back?"

"I'm thinking... we all have some way to control our Troubles, whether it's something we have to do, like I wear a vest and Jordan wears gloves, or learning to control our emotions so that bad things don't happen. Is it an option to keep him there, wean him off the drugs, and then help him to control his impulses while getting him psychiatric help? Hell, after all the man's been through, he could probably use some therapy." Dwight offered. It could work, but Nathan wasn't sure how much time he would have in the hospital before they let him go.

"If I work all of this out with the doctors there, will you give me the time? Will you allow him to heal, let him earn back the trust that he's not going to hurt anyone else?" Nathan asked carefully, looking not only at his friends, but the men behind him.

Jordan nodded slightly, "If he's not a threat, then we don't want to have to hurt anyone. We'll give him the time."

"Thank you. That's all we're asking for." Nathan nodded his gratitude before getting up from the counter and walking past the other members of the Guard. He could tell that not all of them were exactly pleased with this arrangement, but so long as he could get Jordan, Dwight, and hopefully Vince to work with him, then they didn't have to worry so much. He opened the door, walking out and putting the men behind him, feeling very much like he was the prey in that moment.

Nathan got inside his truck, slamming the door closed behind him, and just sat there for a few moments trying to compose himself. He rubbed his hand over his eyes in reaction to the stress he was under, jumping when there was a pounding on his window. He turned his head to see who had come after him, and Vince stood there, a stern look on his face. He started to roll down his window when Vince moved around the car, and got into his truck without so much as asking.

"What can I do for you, Vince?" Nathan asked, trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

"I've been through this before." Vince said, ominously, forcing a silence for a few moments until Nathan realized he was supposed to ask for details.

"Been through what?"

"The Crocker curse getting out of hand." Vince said, without elaborating, letting it sink in. Nathan remembered that Simon Crocker, Duke's father, had been killed by a member of the Guard, and felt a heaviness in his heart. This was it. This was where the situation was going to get out of his hands. They needed to get Duke far away from here and now.

"See, I thought it would be smart to activate Simon Crocker's Trouble. I sent him after my wife's father and just let him go. Then, later on, Lucy and I had to put him down because he lost control, just like Duke has now." Vince explained. The coldness around Nathan grew. If he was willing to put his own father-in-law down, then he was more dangerous than they'd first given him credit for.

"We can get him back under control. He's not so far gone that he can't be saved. He's sorry for what he's done and there is hope." Nathan argued.

"I know." Vince said, putting a hand up when Nathan's eyes opened in surprise. "When we dealt with Simon, we thought we were doing the right thing. For all of Haven. The truth is, we became the monsters. Setting him loose on the Troubled and then killing him for it made us bigger monsters than any of the people he killed. What I'm trying to say, Nathan, is that you made a mistake. You kickstarted him, but you... and Duke, deserve the chance to try to fix this without simply killing him. We're giving you a chance here, and I suggest you make the most of it. Understand?"

"Yeah, I understand," Nathan nodded, staying very quiet. Vince opened the door to let himself out, and got out of the car, walking away. Nathan took a deep breath. That went much better than he'd expected. He started up his truck, putting it in gear, and heading back to the hospital to tell Audrey what was happening.

Nathan stopped to speak with the nurse before going back to Duke's room. It would probably be a long time waiting for him to wake up again, or at least to a point of being coherent. He could probably get a better update from her than any that Parker could give him. "Um, excuse me."

She looked up from her paperwork and snapped to attention. "Detective Wournos. Have you been back to see Mr. Crocker yet?"

"No. I was wondering if you could tell me what's happening with him. I had to step out for a while." He glanced back in the direction of his friend's room.

"He woke up a while ago, seemed fairly coherent, seemed to know what was going on, and was calm. Detective Parker came and got him some water, and now the doctor's with him to see if he can remove those restraints. We don't like to keep them on patients for too long, because it doesn't help with earning trust, you know." The nurse was rambling, and he had tuned out as soon as he heard 'awake and coherent.'

"Uh, thank you. I'm going to head back there. Thanks for the update." He was away from the desk and walking briskly down the hallway before he was even done talking. The door to Duke's hospital room was open, and he could see Duke sitting up in the bed, rubbing gingerly at his wrists where the restraints had been. The doctor was speaking, telling Duke that they were going to keep him there for a psyche consult because of what had happened in that cave, see about getting him on medications, and that he would be well taken care of. Duke didn't need the doctor to tell him that; he had to have known that as long as Nathan and Audrey were there, nothing bad would happen to him. When the doctor was done, he excused himself and left the room, allowing Nathan to close the door behind him.

Duke kept his eyes down, avoiding Nathan's gaze. "How do you feel?" Nathan asked him, taking a seat again, and trying not to be hurt that Duke wouldn't look at him.

"Better. Groggy. It feels like I have the world's worst hangover, but I'm better." Duke's words were coming out stammered, hesitatingly, like he wasn't sure of what he should say, and it broke Nathan's heart a little that Duke wasn't his usual cocky self.

"That's good. At least you're with us again, right?"

"Yeah... look, Nathan, I am so sorry. I don't know what happened. I just kind of lost myself for a while there. I don't know. It was like I was disconnected from my body, like I knew what I was doing, but I couldn't stop it." He was quiet for a moment before chuckling in self-condemnation. "That sounds like an addict. I knew what I was doing; it's not an excuse. I just..."

Nathan took a deep breath. "It's okay, Duke. We understand." He gave Audrey a meaningful look. "I've made the Guard understand. We just need to help you get back on your feet again."

"Oh, god, the Guard. What did they have to say, Nathan? How much trouble am I in?" Duke's breath quickened, and Nathan saw that he was on the edge of panic again.

"Well, you won't be easily forgiven, but for now, you've been given a pass. There's been enough bloodshed on this one. They don't want there to be more. I talked to Jordan and Dwight. And Vince. They all agreed that you need help and that you deserve a chance to get better and earn back their trust. We discussed some options, and you may not like them."

Duke nodded, absorbing everything. "Just so long as I don't have to worry about being killed in some overly weird and painful way, I'm ready to take whatever punishment you have to dole out."

"This isn't a punishment." Nathan said quickly, feeling the tension in his body get worse. This was in no way just Duke's fault, and if he were being punished, they deserved it, too. "This is help. Do you understand that?"

Duke nodded again, averting his gaze to his hands again. He felt like he deserved punishment for what had happened. It wasn't like he was just going out and killing bad people anymore. He went way off the reservation with this one and he deserved to pay for it. "What are my options?"

"Until we can get you under control, and be sure that you're under control, it's in everyone's best interest to keep you in a locked psychiatric ward. There's no precedent for this, so it's not like we can send you to rehab. We also think that the Freddy isn't the best place, since they probably don't have enough security and you'd be surrounded by Troubled people." Duke flinched, and became overly concerned with his hands, looking over the cuticles in anxiety. Audrey reached out a hand and grabbed one of his hands in hers. He stilled.

"We're going to see if they can keep you here, and we'll work with you on this. You aren't being left alone, and we aren't giving up on you. We need to work out the specifics with your doctor here, let him know what's going on, but you can heal here, where you can have some peace and limited interaction with Troubled people. You're not going to kill me, are you?" Nathan cleared his throat after realizing just how flat his joke had fallen, and got serious again. "Duke, you can say no to this, but I'm really hoping that you'll work with us. What do you say?"

"I need help, Nathan." The two friends shared a look, Duke's eyes tearing up in guilt, and Nathan nodded. "I'll do whatever you think I should."

"Okay. We need to go work things out. Are you okay by yourself here?" Duke nodded, and Audrey squeezed his hand before walking out of the room with Nathan to go find the doctor.

Duke watched as they walked out of the room, closing the door behind them. When he was alone, he allowed himself to cry, releasing the guilt, shame, self-loathing, and mixed relief at being allowed to live. He rolled over onto his side and watched the last sunlight fade into the horizon, leaving him alone in the darkened room.


End file.
